1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and in particular to a method and computer program product for an electronic calendar system. Still more particularly, the present invention provides a method and computer program product for an electronic calendar system adapted to evaluate conflicts in calendar events.
2. Description of Related Art
An electronic calendar system is designed to maintain useful information for a user. Electronic calendar systems allow maintenance of a personal schedule of activities such as meeting appointments, teleconference schedules, and the like.
Conventional electronic calendar systems allow users to send electronic invitations to other users and for a user receiving an electronic calendar invitation to either accept or decline the invitation. An invitation typically includes a description of the event, a location of the event, and a scheduled start and end time of the event. An invitation decline message may be returned to the user that issued the invitation when the invitation is declined by an invited user. Likewise, an invitation acceptance message may be returned to the user that issued the invitation when the user accepts the invitation. When a user accepts an invitation, the scheduled event is recorded in the electronic calendar of the accepting user. Additionally, a record of the calendar of the user that issued the invitation is updated to reflect the expected attendance by the accepting user. Accordingly, the calendar of the user that issued the invitation includes an indication of the number of users that have accepted the invitation and the inviting user can plan for the event in response to the anticipated attendance.
A user may sometimes receive invitations for conflicting or concurrently scheduled events. Often, the user will accept an invitation to multiple events that conflict, such as concurrently scheduled events. In such an instance, the user is unable to attend one or more events to which the user has accepted an invitation. Thus, users that have planned for events according to the number of invitation acceptances do not have an accurate indication of the number of attendees that will actually attend the event.
Thus, it would be advantageous for an electronic calendar system to provide an indication of an anticipated attendee count based on the number of invitation acceptances provided in response to an issued invitation. It would further be advantageous to provide an electronic calendar system that provides an anticipated attendee count based on a number of accepted invitations that conflict with other invitation acceptances.